Texas is the largest state to join AT&T’s build-out for the First Responders Network Authority public safety LTE network
FirstNet has landed its most populous state to date, with Texas announcing that it has opted in to the build-out of the public safety LTE network by AT&T. Idaho and Maryland also opted in to FirstNet this week, bringing the total count of opt-in states to 23 out of the 56 U.S. states and territories.
Texas is a big win for FirstNet. The nation’s second most-populous state brings with it a correspondingly large population of first responders as a potential customer base for FirstNet, which — much like commercial nationwide operators — will need to gain good footing in public safety customers in larger urban and suburban departments in order to help make the overall network commercially viable when it must also cover extremely rural areas.
Longtime public safety consultant Andy Seybold has told RCR Wireless News that he has done extensive analysis on financial viability for a national public safety LTE network build-out, particularly on the question of how to design blanket coverage for rural America in a cost-effective way. Seybold said that he has concluded that more than half of the counties and county equivalents in the U.S. are what he calls “sinkholes”: “They don’t have enough first responders to pay for the build and the ongoing expenses in the network,” Seybold said, adding that these areas don’t pay for themselves through secondary spectrum use either, because “they’re not metro areas and normally there is plenty of spectrum already available.”
California — by far the largest U.S. state by population, and home to the LA-Regional Interoperable Communications System early builder project — has not yet made a decision on FirstNet; nor have other highly populated states such as New York, Florida and Illinois. FirstNet has been steadily adding to its list of opt-in states since Virginia kicked things off in mid-July as the first state to join the build-out, but most of those states have been ones with small-to-mid-sized populations, relatively speaking. No states have opted out of the Radio Access Network build-out, at this point.
Texas has also been the site of one of the largest early builder projects. Harris County, which includes the Houston area, has been operating a largely self-funded Band 14 LTE network to supplement its other communications options.
Portable Band 14 #pslte hotspot (Pelican box) set up at NRG Park for post #harvey recovery work. pic.twitter.com/aZo6KUssa2
— Harris County LTE (@HarrisCountyLTE) August 30, 2017
“Hurricane Harvey is still fresh on our minds as the area continues to recover. The support we received from AT&T and FirstNet during our response was incredible, and with this partnership, it will only get better,” said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar in a statement.
Also this week, the FirstNet board approved a budget pf $73.5 million for the organization’s fiscal 2018 year. That number is 13% less than FirstNet’s funding for 2017, which the agency said “is a direct result of establishing a public-private partnership with AT&T to execute its top priorities in the coming fiscal year.” The 2018 funds will be used “for key developments that support the operation and oversight of the Network, as well as customer outreach, product marketing, and future innovation,” according to FirstNet.
Image copyright: philipus / 123RF Stock Photo
